"Stonehenge" for Ann :)

I promised Ann a while ago I would investigate this artwork (stonehenge as we called it lol) at the eastern entrance to Hamilton Gardens that she noticed as she drove through Hamilton a while ago so I have taken a couple of pics and dug up this info...

This from the Hamilton Gardens Website

The design proposal submitted by Chris Booth and Diggeress Te Kanawa for this particular site was selected through a competition of invited top New Zealand artists. The sculpture was largely funded by the WEL Energy Trust who were involved in the final selection. The competition required a massive sculpture that could be seen and appreciated from fast moving vehicles at a busy site with signs and street lights.

The following is sculptor Chris Booth's own explanation of the symbolism and meaning of the sculpture and his acknowledgement of those involved in its creation.

"It was through my quest to find a way to celebrate the entranceway to Hamilton Gardens and the advice sought from Diggeress te Kanawa about the concept, that the sculpture 'Nga Uri o Hinetuparimaunga' was born. The eroded forms of the ignimbrite escarpment at Hinuera gave inspiration for the 21 columns. It was appropriate to use this stone because I'm told the erosion of this material over thousands of years has formed much of the land of the Waikato region, carried and deposited by the Waikato river. The land of Hamilton Gardens is beside the river. The stone is symbolic of this earth.

The need to symbolically protect five of the Hinuera columns with an earth blanket or Kakahu, a protective woven pebble cloak, came to me from witnessing too much local, national and international disrespect for mother earth. Along with protection, the Kakahu also symbolically honours the wonder of mother earth. 12,000 quartz pebbles from Southland and 1000 greywacke pebbles from Kaiaua form the Kakahu which is titled, 'Te Kahu o Papatuanuku'. Three ancient patterns were translated into stone from a traditional korowai woven by Diggeress te Kanawa in 2001. They are: Nihoniho, Te Karu o Te Whenua and Toorakaraka.

The title for the complete sculpture, 'Nga Uri o Hinetuparimaunga', was given at the official handover ceremony on 5th April 2005 by Haare puke and John Haunui, kaumatua of Ngati Wairere.

The Kakahu was given the name 'Te Kahu o Papatuanuku', on 3rd April 2005 by Ngati Wairere kaumatua, Haare Puke.

In consultation with Diggeress te Kanawa it was my main assistant, Tom Heihei of Ngati Rehia (his mother, Huia Heihei, is a celebrated local weaver in the Bay of Islands) who guided the translation of the patterns to stone in the Kakahu. The enormous task of weaving the Kakahu was carried out by Tania Booth in my Kerikeri studio. The diamond drilling of the pebbles was carried out in my studio by a number of people: Tom Heihei, Moses Pere, Tania Booth, Mark Graver, Pete Barnett and Daniel the Brazilian.

The 21 Hinuera stone columns were created with the assistance of Tom Heihei, Josh Smith and quarry staff using stone from the dura/select strata at Firth Hinuera Quarry, Matamata."